In my job I get to talk to a lot of database developers. Many of these folks have significant experience building applications that use Oracle databases. I always ask "what tools do you use?" For the longest time I was expecting to hear Oracle Forms or JDeveloper as the answer to my question. I thought that maybe Visual Basic would come up a lot. And once in a while I do hear about these tools. But the one tool that I hear mentioned most often is Toad by Quest Software. Toad is indeed the tool of choice for Oracle database programmers. As a matter of fact, Toad used to stand for
Tool for
Oracle
Application
Development. Well, Toad is no longer just for Oracle developers. Last week Quest Software released Toad for DB2 v1.0. I know, many of you are thinking: "... great, another version 1.0 product!" The good news is that while it is called "version 1.0" Toad for DB2 is really based on the experience and the knowledge that Toad development team learned releasing eight versions of Toad for Oracle and betas for Toad for MySQL and Toad for SQL Server. In addition, Toad for DB2 has gone through a rigorous beta program since mid-August. So, it is "version 1.0" in name only. So what is it good for? I am not going to write an essay here about all of the things that Toad for DB2 can do for database developers. There are several good articles already written on the subject. For example, you will find Justin Whitney's article "Get the Jump on Toad for DB2" here
http://www.devx.com/IBMDB2/Article/29615. Justin was working with the beta of the Toad for DB2 and he gives an overview of experiences with Toad for DB2 and the key features of the product. What I find to be the most useful in Toad for DB2 is not what it does but rather where it comes from. Because it is a tool that is so well known and liked by database developers, especially those working with Oracle, we can now get more of these developers be more productive with DB2 databases. So, if you have done development work with Oracle and used Toad, grab a copy of DB2 and Toad for DB2 and see for yourself how easy it is to start building DB2 applications. Those of you who have never used Toad for Oracle will still find the productivity that Toad for DB2 offers hard to resist. I keep saying "database developers" as the target audience for Toad for DB2. The nice folks at Quest tell me that close to 25% of people using Toad are not developers at all. These are business analysts and other line of business people that need to run queries and find that Toad offers a pretty easy way of dealing with data. They don't need to ask their IT department to build a custom application for them. Another significant group of Toad users are database administrators. Toad is a really nice tool for a DBA to manage their databases. As a DBA, you get a nice schema browser and a rich set of tools for dealing with database objects. And every DBA's favorite function, ability to kill active applications, is also in Toad. So, how can you get started. I my preferred way is to just dive in. Go to the Quest website
http://www.quest.com/toad_for_db2/index.asp and download the trial version. You get 30 days to experiment and make up your mind. While you are there take a look at the Flash demo
http://www.quest.com/toad_for_db2/demo.asp. It is pretty good if you are feeling lazy and would like to see somebody else do the clicking. Have fun! Disclaimer: I do not derive any financial benefit from Toad for DB2. I recommend it because I like it and because I think it can be of great use to database programmers out there.

"TRACE, the URL I provided in this blog is for the Quest website= where you can get a full function but limited time trial version= of Toad for DB2=2E When you applied for the trial version you were= asked for your email address=2E If you provided a valid address= you would have been sent a key for your trial=2E If you mistyped= your address then your best bet is to reapply to get the new= key=2E By the way, in another blog= (http://blogs=2Eittoolbox=2Ecom/database/talk/archives/006450=2Easp) I= wrote on how to get a limited function but
free version= of Toad for DB2=2E Here is some text from that blog: You can get a reduced function but free version of Toad for DB2= at http://www=2Etoadsoft=2Ecom/toaddb2/lic_agree=2Ehtml=2E Now, if you= are serious about DB2 and seriously in love with Toad you should= be looking at Quest's full function Toad for DB2 product=2E But if= you want a free tool then check out the URL above=2E One annoying= thing about it is that you would have to reinstall it every 60= days or so=2E But, hey, it is free so we can't really complain=2E "

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Leon Katsnelson

September 19, 2017 04:58 PM

Glad to be here and it is nice to see some "familiar faces".

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Leon Katsnelson

September 19, 2017 04:58 PM

"Lewis, good stuff! The reason I like Toad is not just because it= is a great tool=2E I like the fact that it works with multiple= databases=2E If you know how to use Toad or Oracle then you will= have no problem using Toad for DB2 or Toad for MySQL or Toad for= SQL Server=2E There is a buzz in the Oracle community about Raptor= being a Toad killer=2E Personally, I don't see it happening=2E Sure= there will be Oracle-only DBAs and programmers who will look at= it (if and when it ships)=2E But if we view the past to be a good= indicator about what the future holds I don't see Raptor being= anything more then a niche product=2E Oracle tried to push= JDeveloper to the Java community but people went to Eclipse= instead because it does not tie you to Oracle=2E I predict that= Toad will still be the choice for database developers and DBAs= because it does not lock you in to Oracle and lets one leverage= their skills when working with other databases=2E "